But what else - apart from the financial fallout that has hit our market and impacted on all facets of the trucking industry - has made this past year Annus Horribilis Version 11? I see two main negatives. The first that comes to mind is that on our local political front, it has been one of the saddest – and most morally bankrupt – periods in the 15-year history of our new democracy as day after day we have read of new scandals where greedy grubbers with access to tax-payers funds have put their dirty little snouts into the troughs and sniffed up millions and millions of Rand to enrich themselves, their families and their buddies at the expense of the development of this great nation and its people. While the voters have risen up against the lack of service delivery by incompetent and selfish ‘officials’, those same officials have just continued doing what they do best, namely, looting the tills and to heck with the proletariat. They’ve probably been laughing at the street tyre burners as they watch the ‘show’ on wall-towall plasma screens from the comfort of their plush home theatres in their newly acquired, tax-payer funded R3- to R7-million houses. What we have seen over the past year has been a disgusting display of greed, abuse of position, power and tax-payer’s funds. I can only imagine what some of the true ‘struggle’ purists, who fought hard for freedom, must be thinking. Is this what they fought for? To see a handful of ‘comrades’ who were so jubilantly voted into positions by an entrusting public who put their faith in those people to deliver on the ‘freedom’ promises of a better life for all, merely grab it all for themselves. It has been absolutely disgusting. Those who have abused their positions for self-gain are a stinking disgrace to the nation and are no better than those overseas bankers who took the money entrusted to them by their clients and wasted it on schemes designed for self gain. The problem is that just as the ill-deeds of those bankers caught up with them and plunged the world into economic darkness, so too will this never ending hands-in-the-till mentality plunge South Africa into darkness and turmoil. Hello Eskom!

The second negative that has been so sad this year is having to watch the term ‘racist’ being bandied around so loosely by those who have no other constructive input into arguments, situations or problems that require rational and sensible thought. The worst culprit on this front is the ANC Youth League’s leader Julius Malema who falls back on the racist label as his only mechanism of defence or argument when he runs out of rational thought – which is often. Well, daily actually. OK, let’s be fair. Only when he’s awake. He’s a great guy when he’s asleep. This silly man – not youngster – flies into situations that require sensible and experienced minds and proceeds to throw everything into disarray by barging his way through the issues with total abandon inevitably ending with an accusation of his target being racist. The latest is his racist jibe levelled at Jeremy Cronin, deputy minister of transport and deputy general secretary of the SA Communist Party, where he described Cronin as a ‘white messiah’. The topic of debate – a word that does not exist in Malema’s dictionary (dictionary is the big people’s word for ‘word book’ Julius) - that led to this inane outburst was the nationalisation of the mines on which Cronin had submitted a well thought out discussion paper in which he partly criticised Malema’s view. Malema responded to Cronin’s paper with bombastic disdain ending with the words: “We also do not need the permission of white political messiahs to think”. Mmmm! So who’s permission do you need Julius because you clearly need someone’s? Here’s my question to the big people’s President, Jacob Zuma. Don’t you see it Mr President? Don’t you see that this young man is a disaster for South Africa? He’s a rabble rouser latching onto the soft issues of populist politics using the term ‘racist’ as a weapon against all and sundry – even against Jeremy Cronin, who you know is not a racist. Cronin is just white. His record proves he is not a racist but his white skin makes for an easy exit strategy for Malema to use in the absence of logical argument. He, and the many others who so carelessly bandy the racist label around, are doing our country so much damage. By the way, Mr Zuma, he’s also getting a lot more press than you are which makes one think. Who is the real President of this country? I hope it’s you rather than him but the problem is we hear a lot more from him that we do from you on national issues. Oh yes, and by the way Mr President, my criticism of Malema is not because he’s Black. I voted out racism in 1994. It’s because he’s a bad news twit – and that view is formulated from his words and actions not from the colour of his skin.

All these negatives have had an impact on the economy and on the ability of the trucking industry to service the country and grow. They are all linked. My hope is that as we leave Annus Horribilis Version 2 behind and move into an exciting 2010 which will see the World Cup coming to our shores, that we push the delete button on the negatives and open the positives file of South Africa. We really need to do that. To all our readers and advertisers who have been with us through the year, FleetWatch wishes you a peaceful, safe and happy Festive Season. Thanks for being there with us and we’ll see you in the New Year. We luvya all - no matter what the colour of your skin!